Batman: The-Ride – BACKWARD!

Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, will open with a change to Batman: The Ride. After 21 years of hurling its riders through 2,700 feet of loops, drops and twists at 50 mph, for a limited time it will all happen in a new direction: backward.

After last year's introduction of the wing-style X-Flight roller coaster and with no new major rides planned for this year, running the 21-year-old coaster in reverse gives the park a "fresh attraction."

Operating the coaster in reverse is more involved than turning around the trains and flipping a switch. The train required new chassis as well as other engineering tweaks.

Once the backward run on Batman ends in a few months — no specific date has been announced — the new chassis will be off to another Six Flags park and another Batman ride.

To check out the on-ride video of Scott Heck (ACE regional rep/Western Great Lakes), with Bonnie Heck and Jeff Peters, click here.